To keep the wheels turnin' we've got to keep the engines churnin'.

Friday, September 07, 2007

Sales Call

Stop holding your breath: Make sure you talk to your kids and grandkids about Iraq, because someday, they'll have to talk to their kids and grandkids about it; it would be great if they could understand how we allowed this whole thing to get started. So now we're waiting for The Report on how things are going Over There. It's another exercise in our national game of "who are you going to believe -- me or your own eyes?" We're not having a national debate or even a discussion about this anymore. We're the captive audience for a national sales pitch. The war's proponents are marketing the war to the rest of us, the reluctant buyers, with the underlying argument that they're selling the only product we can possibly buy and that, even if it looks, smells, and tastes awful and the price is outrageous, we'd better sign up for a lifetime supply if we know what's good for us. And besides, interest-only financing is available. So sure, let's go ahead and do it; it's an investment in the future, we hope, and maybe we can refinance next year.

Low, low easy payments: Like most buy-now, pay-later schemes, this one's the gift that keeps on giving. Somehow, no matter how hard you try, you just can't get ahead of the payments and the upkeep. How long can this go on? Well, you might ask Israel. Mighty on the battlefield. Stalwart for democracy. Prosperous and inventive economically. And utterly unable to free itself from the deserts of its victory in the Six-Day War (if it took six days, why is it still going on?). That has all worked out beautifully for everyone, including we, the people who have dumped more than $100 billion into the Israeli project in the last 40 years. The Palestinians have rubble aplenty to go with a feeble, corrupt and blinkered leadership, and the Israelis have a militarized "democracy" that can only limit the unrest on its fringes by isolating the Palestinians with walls and separate highways. It's a beautiful picture. Consider us sold.

Comments

Stop holding your breath: Make sure you talk to your kids and grandkids about Iraq, because someday, they'll have to talk to their kids and grandkids about it; it would be great if they could understand how we allowed this whole thing to get started. So now we're waiting for The Report on how things are going Over There. It's another exercise in our national game of "who are you going to believe -- me or your own eyes?" We're not having a national debate or even a discussion about this anymore. We're the captive audience for a national sales pitch. The war's proponents are marketing the war to the rest of us, the reluctant buyers, with the underlying argument that they're selling the only product we can possibly buy and that, even if it looks, smells, and tastes awful and the price is outrageous, we'd better sign up for a lifetime supply if we know what's good for us. And besides, interest-only financing is available. So sure, let's go ahead and do it; it's an investment in the future, we hope, and maybe we can refinance next year.

Low, low easy payments: Like most buy-now, pay-later schemes, this one's the gift that keeps on giving. Somehow, no matter how hard you try, you just can't get ahead of the payments and the upkeep. How long can this go on? Well, you might ask Israel. Mighty on the battlefield. Stalwart for democracy. Prosperous and inventive economically. And utterly unable to free itself from the deserts of its victory in the Six-Day War (if it took six days, why is it still going on?). That has all worked out beautifully for everyone, including we, the people who have dumped more than $100 billion into the Israeli project in the last 40 years. The Palestinians have rubble aplenty to go with a feeble, corrupt and blinkered leadership, and the Israelis have a militarized "democracy" that can only limit the unrest on its fringes by isolating the Palestinians with walls and separate highways. It's a beautiful picture. Consider us sold.